Brace and plate.



No. 898,046. PATENTED SEPT. 8,1908.

G. H. GUNVALSONI. BRACE ANDPLATE.

APPLICATION FILED iIIAILZB, 1908.

QM fflfl amid/mam GUSTAVE H. GUNVALSON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BRAcE AND PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1908.

Application filed March 23, 1908. Serial No. 422,857.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAVE H. GUNvAL- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Brace and Plate, of which the following is a specification.

his invention relates to rail braces and has for its object to provide a strong, durable and thoroughly eflicient device of this characterwhich'serves the dual function of a-bed plate and support for bracing the rail against teral strains.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail brace comprising a'body portion havin its 0 posite longitudinal edges bent. lateraly to f drm reinforcing flanges and one end thereof reduced in width and bent upwardly to produce an over-hangin enlargement having a seating recess for the reception of the head of the rail.

A still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and efficiency as well as to reduce the cost of manufacture.

Further objects and advantages will appear in thefollowing description, it being understood that variouschanges in form, proportions andminor details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the ap ended claims.

n the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specificationi Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a rail provided with a combined bed plate and brace constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the brace is constructed.

,hanglng arm or brace 15.

and the arm 15 Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawin s.

Thelmproved device forming the subject matter of the present invention is principally designed for use in connection with rail-way rails and by way of illustration is shown in connection with a rail of the ordinary construction in which 5 designates the rail mounted on the usual cross tie 6.

The brace is preferably stamped or otherwise'formed from a sheet metal blank 7 hav-' ing its opposite longitudinal edges at one end thereof bent .laterally to form reinforcing ribs or flanges 8 and its intermediate portion curved inwardly to produce a reduced neck I 9, the metal between the neck 9 and thel other end of the blank being curved laterally at 10 to produce oppositely disposed wings or flanges 11. One end 'of the blank 7 is provided with a plurality of openings 12 adapted to receive spikes or similar fastening devices 18 while the opposite end thereof is adaptedto be bent laterally on the fold line 14 to produce an over-hanging arm 15 constituting a brace. The free end of the brace 15 is rovided with a square terminal ada ted to bear against the adjacent side of the lead of the rail, while the free end of the wings or flanges 11 are formed with recesses 16 adapted to register with each other when the wings are bent laterally on the fold line 17 to accommodatethe lower portion of the head of the rail. It will thus be seen that the over-hanging arm 15 bears against both the head and web of the rail and serves to reinforce and stren then the latter and support the rail against Tater-a1 strains incident to the passage of cars and other rolling stock.

Attention is here called to the fact that the longitudinal ribs or flangesS terminate atthe reduced portion of the neck 9, while the fold line 14 extends transversely across the blank at said neck so as to permit the metal to be readily folded laterally to produce the over- By forming the intermediate portion of the blank with a-reduced connecting portion or neck 9 when the arm 15 is folded into shape the'latter will yieldably engage the head of the rail but'at the same time will be sufficiently rigid to efl'ectually resist any lateral strains or thrusts to which the rail may be subjected.

In constructing the brace the wings or flanges 11 are folded laterally on the lines 17 bent upwardly on the fold line 14. 'The brace is then placed in osition on the cross tie 6 with the rectangu ar portion of the brace interposed between the base of the rail and the cross tie and with the head of'the rail seated in the recess 16, as best shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The bed late is then rigidly secured to the cross tie y inserting the spikes 13 in the openings 12 and driving the same home with a maul or 105 It will thus be seen that the body ortion 7'forms a sup ort or bed plate for t e base of the rail whi e the overhanging arm 15 acts as a brace to maintain the rails in alinement and prevent spreading of the same. It will also be noted that the lateral wings or flanges serve to reinforce and other suitable tool.

- to extendbeneath an to extend beneath 'an 1 a seatin gagement with the head and flange of the ral.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that there is provided a comparatively simple and inexpensive brace whic is strong in construction, light in weight and admirably in view. I

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is: 1. A rail brace com rising a plate adapted to extend beneath and support the base of a rail, and having an intermediate .portion thereof. reduced in width and one end bent upwardly toform an over-hanging arm a aitpted to yieldably engage the head of the ral 2. A rail brace comprising a plate adapted support the base of a rail and provided with oppositely disposed depending reinforcing flanges, one end of the plate being reduced in width and bent up-.

wardly to form an over-hangin arm having recess formed therein orthe reception of t e head of the rail.

3. A rail brace comprising a plate adapted support the base of a rail and provided with oppositely disposed 'lo'n itudinal flanges, an intermediate portion of t e plate being reduced'in Width to form a neck and one end of said plate bent to pro duce an over-hanging arm for engagement with the head of the rail, the opposite longitudinal edges of the arm being wardly to orm spaced reinforclng flanges.

- 4. A rail brace comprising a plate adapted to extend beneath an support the base of a rail anct provided with oppositely disposed adapted for the attainment of the ends bent downhanging1 arm, the opposite longitudinal edges of whic are provide withdependin flanges, there being seating recesses forme in said flanges for thereception of the head of the rail. z.

5. A rail brace comprising a plate provided with spike receiving openingsand having an intermediate portion thereofreduced in width and bentupwardly over the perforated portion of the plate to form an overhanging arm, the opposite longitudinal edges of t e arm being bent downwardly to form spaced reinforcing flanges the terminals of which are provided with seatingrecessesfor the reception of the head'of the rail.

6. A rail brace constructed from a metallic blank, the opposite longitudinal edges at one end of the blank being bent laterally to form depending reinforcing flan es, and an intermediate portion of the blan curvedinwardly and reduced in width to form a neck, the longitudinal edges of the blank at said neck being curved outwardly to form lateral Wings, said Wings being fold'able laterally at each side of the blank, and the metal between said wings folded upwardly at the neck to produce an over-han ing arm, there being recesses formed in t e free ends of the wings and adapted to register with each other When said wings are folded into shape.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

GUSTAVE H. GUNVALSON.

Witnesses:

H. J. Hoes, AMY HOWE. 

